TURKEY

BATMAN, Turkey — After centuries of neglect, the historic Mor Quryaqos (St. Cyriacus) Monastery in the Bishiri Quarter of Batman, Turkey, reopened to the public on 15 June following a five-year restoration funded by Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The reopening was marked by a dedication service led by…

ISTANBUL — Two of Turkey’s pro-democracy and leftist political movements, the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (Turkish: Halkların Demokratik Kongresi, HDK) and the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (Ezilenlerin Sosyalist Partisi, ESP), issued statements this week commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Sayfo genocide, a series of mass killings carried out by…

IWARDO, Turkey — Residents of Iwardo village in Tur Abdin, southeastern Turkey, gathered at the historic Virgin Mary Church to commemorate the victims of the 1915 Sayfo Genocide. The ceremony reflected on the atrocities committed against the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) community during that period.  The Virgin Mary Church, once a strategic…

MEDYAD, Turkey — On the 110th anniversary of the Sayfo Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire and its Kurdish tribal allies against the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people, the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (Halkların Eşitlik ve Demokrasi Partisi, DEM Party) and the Democratic Regions Party (Demokratik Bölgeler Partisi, DBP) organized a…

ANKARA – The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (Halkların Eşitlik ve Demokrasi Partisi, DEM Parti) today 15 June 2025, commemorated the Sayfo Genocide of 1915 with, among others, a written statement calling for a social and political confrontation within Turkey with the Sayfo. The statement, entitled “We share the pain…

By Muzaffer İris | Writer and academic The word Sayfo, meaning “sword” in Syriac, is rarely heard in and around the city of Adiyaman, Turkey. The events of Sayfo are not widely known here, largely because the Syriac language is scarcely used in the towns and villages where Syriacs reside.…

MIDYAT, TUR ABDIN — Evgil Türker, President of the Federation of Syriac Associations in Turkey (Süryani Dernekler Federasyonu, SÜDEF), asserted that the Sayfo Genocide mark a historic turning point and forms a core part of the identity of the Syriac  (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean) people. He urged the Turkish state to stop evading…

BETH NAHRIN – Under the banner “Our Struggle to Raise Awareness of the Sayfo Genocide Continues,” the Presidency of the Bethnahrin National Council (Mawtbo Umthoyo d’Bethnahrin, MUB), today released a formal statement commemorating 110 years since the Sayfo massacres of 1915. The MUB asserts that, by embracing the legacy of…

VIENNA — The documentary titled Asadur, focusing on the Armenian Genocide and the ongoing struggle for cultural identity, is set to screen on Thursday, June 19, at the Admiral Kino theater in Vienna, Austria.  Recognizing art as a powerful lens through which the suffering and resilience of communities can be…

By Fehmi Vergili | Co-President of the European Syriac Union Among the peoples who have borne the heaviest burdens of the prolonged conflict between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Syriacs occupy a primary place. The armed clashes and long-standing security policies in Turkey have not…